Book Review: Let’s Talk Money by Akhil Khanna

Title: Let’s Talk Money

Author: Akhil Khanna

Publisher: Times Group Books

No. of Pages: 174

Price: INR 250

Inside the Book: This book was really a nice read as I am interested in economics and finance. But I am still at learning and amateur stage. So this book may help you to pick a direction. The author has discussed every tricky term in the area of investments and savings in such a simple and interesting language taking examples from everyday life. If you are a student planning to take a course in economics or finance, if you are a beginner and want to save some money now and get bigger benefits in future then this book is the perfect beginning for you.

You will never drop this book once you get a clear idea about inflation and deflation in very first chapter. The author started with introduction to some tricky but basic terms related to our income, property, stocks etc. Then he further described about economics environment on global level, risks to investments and various types of insurance. Author did not forget to brief about the world financial crisis happened in 2008.

You can also use this book as your investment guide. There is no need to read the book in sequence. If you want to know about car loans then read the specific part and you will be happy to get your doubts cleared. My father is a banker and he also found the book very useful and apt for the common people with minimum knowledge of correct investments. One quote which caught my attention and I have it on my tongue: “It is not important what one earns; true wealth is what one manages to keep”.

My Review: As I mentioned before, you will never find a book with such a simple language to understand some basic terms in economics and finance. People generally consult their financial advisors when their CA tells them to make some investments to save the tax. But it is better to know about what you are investing in. Talking about the language used by the author, I can say only one thing that beginners who are learning English starts with Hindustan Times before turning to Indian Express or The Hindu. It is the same situation here. If you want to get excelled, it is a perfect beginning. And you are just looking for investments then just have it as your guide. Happy reading!

Rating: 4/5

The book was received as a part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve

When Strangers Meet by K. Hari Kumar

Title: When Strangers Meet..

Author:  K. Hari Kumar

Publisher: Srishti Publishers

No. of pages: 206

Price: INR 100

About the story: This is a story of every Indian child today, especially those who live in urban areas and have options of loads of colleges to become an engineer or a doctor. Author has narrated one such story of spoilt Delhi lad, Jai who lives with a dream to become an established actor in Bollywood one day. First he fights with his girlfriend who knows that her boyfriend is going on a wrong track. But he doesn't care for anyone at that moment. His father tries to get him a seat in some random engineering college in management quota.

After such a mental torture to follow his father’s path the boy leaves home to pursue his dream. When he reaches at the metro station he has to wait in resting room due to delayed trains. There he meets Hussain and Iyer. Iyer is a character based on tamil civilian. The author gave him a look and character of typical Madrasi who used to give free advises to others. Somehow Iyer starts to narrate his own story to the boy and he finds Iyer’s story very similar to his own disastrous life. By the time you will find all this drama very annoying and uninteresting to read it further. Because it’s a very simple story which you don’t want to read in form of a novel.

But going after few more pages the author regains his pace. Now you will decide to finish the novel to discover the end of the story. Iyer’s story ends before your expectations and the main story again come to present. And suddenly it unfolds the suspense. It leaves you stunned about the possibility of such an end. I really could not find the motto of introducing Hussain’s character in the story. After too much introduction author has used Hussain only to unfold the mystery which leaves you unsatisfied and unanswered.

The story is not so suspenseful but it’s a simple and easy to predict story-line. Such type of end can only happen where some of you leave your passion and dreams for a career chosen by your parents. And if it happens in almost every family in India then readers really don’t want to recall their not so happy life through a novel which they read for mere entertainment.

My review: If you search my blog you will find an article on Indian novels which cost less than hundred bucks where I had written about the quality of content in such novels. The English used in this novel can be reached to a level above as Indians’ level of English has attained a new height. But after all it’s a debut novel. Two words which describes this novel: ‘good attempt’. Every author improves himself with his every book. We know some popular Indian names whose work has reached abroad.

The only reason for which I recommend this book is Iyer’s tale. Author has become successful in finding your point of interest and this tale doesn't let you leave the book in between. If you have stuck in a traffic then go for this book, it will help to reduce your frustration with its simplicity. Happy reading!

Rating: 2.5/5

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.